Pneumatic vehicle-spring.



, PATENTED SEPT. 13, 1904 B. E. TEAL.

PNEUMATIC VEHICLE SPRING. l

APPLICATION FILED MAY 28. 1004.

`N0 MODEL.

marrones.

Patented September 13, 1904.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

BENJAMINFRANKLUIN TEAL, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

L PNEUMATIC VEHICLE-SPRING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 770,128, dated September 13, 1904. Application and May 28,1904. serai No. 210,260. No model.)

To 1 /ZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, BENJAMIN FRANKLIN TEAL, a citizen of the United States, residing atPhiladelphia, in the county of Philadelphia .and State ofPennsylvana, have invented new and useful Improvements in Pneumatic Vel1icle-Springs,of which the following is a speciication. ,y

This -invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in pneumatic vehicle- ,a lpneumatic vehicle spring with an intey'g'rally-arrangedregulating means to compensate for variations in a load, said regulating means forming-an essential part of the spring and being arranged as an integral part of the construction to overcome the subjecting of said means to derangement from exposure, as

wouldbe the case with an externally-arranged supplemental regulating means for'the spring. The invention further aims to construct a pneumatic regulating-spring which shall be simple in its construction,4 strong, durable, eiicient in its use,automatically regulated, and comparatively inexpensive to set up.

With the foregoing and other objects in view the invention consists of the novel combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter and in which- Figure 1 is a section of aspring constructed in accordance with this invention on line 2 2 of Fig. 2, and Fig. 2 is a front elevation.

Referring to the drawings byreference characters, ldenotes a cylinder, open at its top and having connected to the upper face of its bottom in any suitable manner an upwardlyextending Vsleeve 2, thereby providing said the cylinder 1.

cylinder with a combined valve and air-inlet `chamber 3 anda pressure-chamber 4. The

bottom of the cylinder 1, approximately centrally thereof, is formed with an outlet-port 5,

and at the inner end of said outlet-port 5 a valve-seat 6 is arranged. Arranged within the chamber 3 is a vertically-extending valvebody 7, having its upper end formed with-a valve-face 8 and its lower end formed with a valve-face 9, the latter adapted when' occasion requires to engage the seat 6. The valvebody 7 is formed with a vertically-extemling bore 10, which communicates at its upper end with an air-inlet port 11 and at its lower end with an lair-outlet port 12, said latter port communicating with the Ichamber 3. The valve-face 8 is termed an inlet-valve, and .the valve-face9 an outlet-valve. The cylinder 1 is formed with a pair of trunnions 13, to which is attached any suitable means (not shown) for connecting the cylinder with the vehicle or a suitable part of the vehicle.

Extending within the cylinder 1 is a plun. ger14, having its lower end formed with aninternal liange 15, through which extendsthe sleeve 2, the diameter of the latter with respectto the Harige 15 being such as to form an air-passage 16. Arranged against the bottom of the plunger 14 is a packing-cup 17,

'which is retained in position through the medium of a follower 18 and the followerscrews 19. The packing-cup 17 has that portion which engagesthe lower face of the plunger conform in contour to the flange 15. The packing-cup 17 also engages the inner face of Formed integral with the inner face of the top of the plunger 14 is a depending tubular extension 20, having a chamber 21, which is open at its bottom to permit of the entrance of the valve-body 7 when the cylinder 1 is elevated, said cylinder carrying the valve-body therewith, and the top wall of said chamber 21 is constructed to form a valve-seat 22 for the check-valve 23. The chamber 21 at its top communicates with a channel 24, which is closed at its upper end through the medium of a screw-plug 25. 1-he channel 24 forms a continuation of what may be termed the air-inlet channel and also permits access being had to the valve 23 to cle.

enable the adjustment thereof when occasion` close the branches 28, the incoming air pass-.

ing around the valve and through the branches 28 into the chamber 21. When the valve 23 is against the seat 22, the back pressure of air passes th rough the opening-27 and branches 28 and retains said valve against its seat. Communicating with the channel 24 is a branch channel 29, closed at its outer end by means of a plug 30 and communicating at a point removed from its outer end with an air-inlet 31, which communicates, through the medium of a coupling device 32, with an air-supply pipe 33. The plunger 14 at its top is provided With a pair of ears 34 to permit of connecting said plunger to the body of the vehi- Secured in any suitable manner to the lower end of the tubular extension 2O is a collar 35, which forms a valve-seat 36 for the valve-face 8 and also forms a guide for the valve-body-7. The diameter of the collar 35 at its upper portion is not as great as the inner diameter of the sleeve2, in which said collar 35 is arranged, thereby forming an air passage 37 for the passage of air from the chamber 3 into the chamber 4.

The valve-body 7, with its twoy valve-faces, forms what is termed a regulatin'g"7 means for the spring, and in this connection it will be stated that the valve-face 8 regulates the supply of air to the cylinder and the valve-l face 9 regulates the discharge of air from tlie cylinder.

It will-be assumed that the cylinder l ha been elevated, carrying the valveebody7 therewith and opening the inlet-port 11, and that the plunger 14 is in communication, through the medium of the pipe 33, with a continuous airsupply reservoir, (not shown,) and air entering through the inlet 31, branch channel 29, and channel 24 will pass around the valve 23, through the branches 28, into the chamber 2l, thence into the port 11, through the bore 10, and out through thevport 12 into the chamber 3, thence up into the plunger 14:, and then into the chamber 4 until equilibrium is established. When the equilibrium is established, the valveface 8 Will engage the valveseat 36. Consequently the inlet-port 11 will be closed, as well -the outlet-port 5. l To compensate for the variations of the load, so as to automatically regulate the pressure necessary to carry the load uniformly, the valve 27 will be caused to vibrate, so as to open and close the inlet-port 11 or to open and close the outlet-port 5, thereby supplying and exhausting the air to and from the spring. If the pressure is too great in the spring, it is evident that the valve-body will be elevated, so that' the surpluspressure can exhaust through the outlet-port 5, and if the pressure is `not suiiicient'or if equilibri`v um is not established the cylinder 1 will be elevated, so as to open the inlet-port 11 to permit of a further supply of air to the interior of the plunger 14 andy chambers 3 and 4.

Such operation is an automatic one, as will be evident from the structure setfforth, or, in other words, openingof the inlet-port 11 and the closing of the outlet-port 5 is done automatically owing to the moving automatically of the cylinder l, which when moved in one direction will open the port 11 and when moved in the other direction will open the outlet-port 5. The movement of the cylinder 1 is caused by the relative variations of pressure and load.

1t is thought the many ad vantages' of my improved pneumatic spring for vehicles can be readily understood from the foregoing de scription, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, and -it will furthermore be evident that changes, variations, and modifr cations can be resorted to without departing from the spirit of my invention or sacrificing any of its advantages, and 1 therefore do not wish to restrict myself to the details of construction hereinbefo're described, and set forth in the annexed drawings, but reserve the right to make such changes, variations, and modificationsas come properly within the scope of the protection prayed.

Having thusfully described my invention, what claim as and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is=L Y A pneumatic spring having as the essential element thereof a self-contained 4means for automatically regulating the pressure to com pensate for variations in the load.

`In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presenceof two subscribing witnesses.

BENJAMIN rRANKLiN TEAL. Witnesses: Y

N. L. BoeAN, GEO. W. REA.

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